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Inner-city housing: New plan in the works

More than 70% of all accommodation in the central city is let out to tourists. A new local spatial development framework sets out how this needs to change

A new plan in the works for development of Cape Town’s inner city sets out the need to accommodate about 40,000 more residents within a greener and more pedestrian-friendly environment over the next 15 years.

The new Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) currently open for public comment, states that property in the inner city is unaffordable for 90% of Cape Town households needing accommodation. People who work in the inner city cannot even afford inner city rentals, and more than 70% of accommodation in the area is targeted at tourists. This includes guesthouses, flats let out for short-term rental through AirBnB, and hotels.

The inner city in the LSDF is the area between the foreshore to the north and Orange Street in the south, and from Tennant Street in the east to Buitengracht Steet and De Waterkant in the west.

According to the LSDF, there were 6,700 people living in this area in 2022, but by 2040, the inner city needs to accommodate between 40,000 and 50,000 people. This is partly due to population growth in Cape Town, and a desire to give people the ability to live close to where they work – including working class people – which will also contribute to the vibrancy of the inner city outside of normal working hours. Currently, most of the city center’s streets are almost deserted after 6pm and from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning.

While there is a huge demand for long-term accommodation in the inner city, especially amongst young people, there is not enough long-term rental supply, making it “extremely difficult to find affordable rental accommodation within the central city”. Affordable accommodation is defined as accommodation that households earning R22,500 per month or less can afford.

Post-Covid, demand for office space is reduced, and office buildings can be retrofitted for residential use. This, together with new residential builds is needed, as the LSDF notes projected tourism growth will further limit the availability of long-term rental. It also notes there are no policies to manage short-term rentals for tourists and the impact this has on the availability of accommodation for Capetonians.

In order to meet the challenge of increased residential units and affordability, the LSDF notes policy responses should target economic growth and increased employment to boost household income; there needs to be “general provision” of housing for all economic markets, along with “dealing with informality and homelessness”; expanding spaces for “vulnerable people” to seek shelter in and around the inner city.

The LSDF suggests using underdeveloped and underutilised parcels of land to achieve this. “It is imperative to create an inclusive residential affordability ladder,” notes the LSDF.

Housing developments

The LSDF provides a schedule of 23 residential development opportunities on public land in the inner city owned by the City, Western Cape Government, PRASA, and Transnet. These would supply an additional 18,000 residential units in the inner city, and are currently in various phases, ranging from identification to procurement.

The largest of these is a “mixed-market affordable housing development” on City-owned land forming part of the Foreshore Gateway Precinct, offering 3,480 residential units. Also on City-owned land, the Foreshore Freeways Precinct Development Project would offer 3,000 residential units. However, a study on the Foreshore Freeway Precinct, which has historically been a headache for the City, is in the prefeasibility stage and not yet available to the public.

Also notable is the availability of two erven owned by the Western Cape Government at Prestwich Street in De Waterkant offering 1,080 residential in a mixed use development. There are also a potential 1,785 residential units as part of a mixed-use development at Founder’s Gardens in Roggebaai, also on Western Cape Government land.

PRASA has two sites, being the Ford showroom at Old Marine Drive, and the station deck, which could be developed to provide 1,135 and 1,479 residential units respectively.

Numerous other smaller site of state-owned land are situated throughout the inner city.

Finding a balance

The “unique setting and character” of the inner city is what makes it attractive to businesses, but the people who work in these businesses – which is more than other areas in the metropole – also drive demand for residential accommodation, which drives up property values. While City planners want to retain the inner city’s attractiveness for business in order to maintain and increase economic activity, this needs to be balanced with the need for tens of thousands more residential units while also protecting heritage and “upholding principles of good design”.

The LSDF states it wants to protect the “fine grain” of the inner-city’s pedestrian-friendly 60m x 60m city blocks between Riebeeck Street and Buitensingel Streets. The foreshore, however, developed since the 1950s, comprises imposing city blocks and, together with the unfinished freeways, is a challenge to the City’s vision of pedestrian-friendly blocks with interlinked public spaces. Given it’s existing characteristics, it is cited for skyscraper developments of 90m and higher. However, these need to be individually assessed for their shadow impact, impact on surrounding heritage features, and should be street friendly, with the towering upper storeys recessed from the street.

Mountain to sea

One of the key planning elements in the LSDF is establishing, or maintaining links, between the mountain and the sea, which is part of Cape Town’s unique sense of place. Where corridors cannot offer physical access due to the harbour, there should at least be visual links.

Various parts of the inner city should become pedestrianised, such as Longmarket and Shortmarket streets which provide an east-west link between District Six and the Bo-Kaap, Long Street, and upper Bree Street, now known as “Breecinct”.

The provision of parking over public spaces (such as Harrington Square in the East City Precinct, and Heritage Square off Buitengracht Street) is discouraged, and a maximum number of parking bays need to be stipulated for new developments. Instead of catering for cars, the focus is on public transport, including micromobility in the inner city through tuk-tuks or other hyper-local solutions, with visitors from outlying suburbs being able to use park-and-ride facilities on the outskirts of the inner city.

Background

The Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF), which is open for public comment until 31 October, emerges from the City’s post-Covid Central Business District (CBD) Recovery Programme following the devastaing impact of the pandemic on the inner city economy.

The contextual analysis of the draft LSDF notes Cape Town’s inner city has not had an approved document for spatial planning and land use guidance for almost 20 years. This has “had the effect of general inconsistencies in the way the CBD has been shaped by urban development practices over time”. The new LSDF, which forecasts to 2040, attempts to remedy the situation. A

Additionally, the post-Covid economy has proven to be more resilient than intially thought, according to the LSDF, thus the Recovery Programme, and the Land Use Model developed in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, needs to be adjusted.

Aligning with the Municipal Planning By-law

The City Bowl Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association chair Carl Schmidt said it was encouraging that consideration is being given to a short-term rental policy.

“We are aware that the increased popularity of this type of accommodation appears to be pushing up rental prices and stock availability for the ordinary Cape Town resident, while in some cases also changing the character of old, established residential neighbourhoods,” stated Schmidt.
He said the Municipal Planning By-law, which could give effect to the LSDF, was also being adjusted and has had public comment extended until 25 October, and it was important to reference the sections in the Municipal Planning By-laws (MPBL) which cover property zoning and consent rights.
He said balance needs to be found between affordable housing, heritage protection, and infrastructure capacity, amongst others.

It was important that public input on the LSDF and the MPBL would be taken into account “so that citizens and the local authority can jointly work towards creating an inclusive inner city for all”.

Sean Dayton, chairperson of Young Urbanists South Africa, said the City needed to introduce regulations to balance the economic benefits of short term rentals with the need to protect long-term housing options “and prevent the hollowing out of residential neighbourhoods”.

Dayton said the MPBL was silent regarding short-term letting platforms like AirBnB, which was a “significant ommission”.

He said the Young Urbanists encouraged taller buildings that maximise land use, but they also needed to preserve neighbourhood character.

“We strongly advocate for incorporating urban design guidelines that promote high-quality architecture, respect heritage, and ensure new developments integrate seamlessly with the existing urban fabric.”

The City also needed to include provisions in the MPBL requiring developers to contribute to the provision and maintenance of social amenties such as parks, libraries, and community centres.

He said this would help ensure new developments enhance the quality of life for all residents, rather than detract from it.

The draft LSDF is available on the City’s website at: www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay

How to comment:

·       Go online www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay

·       Submit comments by 31 October 2024

·       Attend the public information day at the Central Library on 10 October from 10am to 6pm